Starcraft 2, Wings of Liberty
by Setharoth
Summary: A novel adaptation of the Wings of Liberty campaign. Four years after the destructive Brood Wars, rebel Jim Raynor is struggling to overthrow Mengsk. However, when the Zerg return, Jim must face his past. Rated M for violence and strong language.
1. Prologue

**Author's note: **This is a novel adaptation of the Terran campaign on Starcraft 2. Events from the game will therefore take place, but they may be modified or changed in some ways. I also plan to introduce original characters, and perhaps original scenarios that don't happen in the game itself. As you read, I hope you enjoy and leave a review. Thank you.

Prologue

The red dusty sands of Mar Sara blew across the desolate fields, over the sand dunes and cliffs, and the broken and shattered remnants of colonies. Mar Sara had seen a lot of trouble. Just a backwater colony that had settled down on a planet on the fringes of Terran space, it had been the first planet to become invaded by the Zerg Swarm. The nightmare for Mar Sara only began with the Zerg, as a fleet of Protoss came and eradicated all life on the planet from space, coldly annihilating both Zerg and Terran. It was the start of the Great War.

Memories of Mar Sara, of the Great War, flashed through James Raynor's mind, quickly drowned out by another shot of drink. He sat alone in JoeyRay's bar. He had frequented this bar quite often. Apparently the bar had survived the nightmare that devastated the rest of the planet, as had its owner. People had begun to come back to Mar Sara, colonize it again, most of them former inhabitants. People that Jim had saved, all those years ago. Yet for every one saved, hundreds had died. The people that Jim couldn't save weighed on him heavier than the ones he had, and he drowned out that weight with another heavy drink.

Jim Raynor was a muscular, broad-shouldered man. Since the Great War he had let his black hair grow out and scruffy facial hair began to take form. His bright amber eyes had a glint of wisdom behind them, but they were drowned out by a darker shade that betrayed the nightmares that he had seen.

"Emperor Arcturus Mengsk called a press conference today to commemorate the end of the so-called 'Brood Wars' four years ago. Our own Kate Lockwell is on the scene."

Jim looked up. The television was on, probably had been on for a while, but he hadn't noticed. As he looked up, he saw the man he hated above anything else, Arcturus Mengsk.

Arcturus Mengsk stood erect and proud, his hands gripping the podium dramatically. He was the very picture of a regal lord. His light brown hair had just a shade of gray in it, and was cropped closely around his head in a way that made him look professional, along with his small beard. He wore a flashy suit with a huge, regal cape spreading behind him.

"Emperor," a woman said, obviously a reporter, standing up, "the threat of a Zerg invasion is still very real, but instead of expanding our fleets, you've spent trillions tracking down has-been rebels such as Jim Raynor."

_Has been?_ Jim thought, sulkily. But even he admitted that his forces were small. Victory was far away, and the chance of him beating Arcturus was slim.

"I assure you," Mengsk began, and Jim grew angry over the silky voice that Mengsk spoke with, a voice that should have put Jim on alert, should have told him what kind of snake he had been working with, "Jim Raynor still represents a clear and present threat to this Dominion. He is an unscrupulous, lawless revolutionary bent of spreading fear and dissention across the sector…"

Mengsk continued, but Jim stopped listening. Being in Mar Sara brought back memories, and he felt like he was drowning in them now. Looking down at the bar top, Jim picked up a picture that he had kept with him. The picture was of a young woman, about Jim's age, with striking red hair done up in a flowing ponytail. Her eyes were a mixture of green and amber, and it looked to Jim as if they were shining. Her mouth was curved up, as if almost about to smile, in that funny way she did. It was terrible to think about what had happened to her. What had happened to everyone because of her. Because he had let it happen.

"…I assure you, this criminal will be brought to justice, very soon," Mengsk finished, his voice flickering back into Jim's hearing.

Rage came alive inside Jim, sparked like a fire. He wasn't the only one responsible for what had happened. In an instant Jim saw all the things that had happened because of Mengsk, the betrayals, the lies, the deaths. In that moment he knew he would fight Mengsk no matter how distant victory was, or how few troops Raynor had, or how close the Zerg were to wiping them all out. No matter what, Mengsk would pay for his crimes, and Raynor would deliver.

Still filled with his fiery rage and determination, Raynor pulled out his sidearm and spun around, pointing the weapon at the screen. "It's not over till it's over, you son of a bitch!" he snarled, firing a gunshot. The bullet left a large hole in the screen, right where Mengsk was standing.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Liberation Day

"Adjunct, are my troops ready yet?" James Raynor asked, turning to a small computer sitting nearby him. The computer flashed, and then a holographic image of a woman appeared. The Adjunct blinked, and then looked at Jim.

"Your forces are ready and await your orders, commander," the Adjunct replied with its synthetic female voice.

"Good, it's about time we kick this revolution into overdrive," Jim said, downing the last of his drink, and then standing up. He walked outside of the bar, leaving money on the table, to where a large transport waited. He walked up the ramp and into the transport. Inside was a small group of marines, suited up in their blue armor. The armor was the bread-and-butter of a marine unit, allowing the marines to move with super-human strength and speed. It also helped that every marine that put on the suit was as tough as nails. It took a special man to use a suit.

The marines looked at Jim as he entered. He saluted them casually, and then went into the fitting room. Standing on the center of the platform, machine arms reached out and began to place segments of his armor on him, sealing the pieces together. The process wasn't nice, but Jim was used to it. His armor was black, and his visor painted with a skull, the signature sign of Raynor's Raiders.

Once he was suited up, Jim left the fitting room. The transport was already in the air, heading towards their location. The Dominion had set up a Logistics center in Backwater Station, from which the Dominion planned its operations throughout the sector. Taking it down would cripple Mengsk's hold on Mar Sara. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

The transport flew to the edge of backwater station, over the ruined remnants of a bridge, and Raynor signaled for the pilot to stop. The ship floated low over the ground, and the bay doors opened up. Raynor and five of his men got to the edge of the bay doors, and jumped out one at a time, Raynor first. Once they were all on the surface, he waved for the transport to leave, not wanting it to be spotted by the Dominion security.

Jim and his troops made their way forward, passing the skeletons of the old Backwater Station. Some of the buildings looked like they had been salvaged and turned into make-shift shelters quite recently. Jim figured that whoever had lived in them had either died or moved on. As they made their way down the road, they saw piles of junk and scrap lying all over, but he didn't see anybody yet. "Alright boys, keep your intervals wide and your asses covered," Jim said, scanning ahead for Dominion troops.

Reaching a bend in the road, he saw a woman standing by the edge of the road. She was covered in dirt and wearing rags, and her eyes gazed ahead blankly. Two of Jim's men went past her and looked ahead, but Jim stopped. "Excuse me, miss," he said, lifting his visor so that she could see his face.

The woman didn't blink or even look at him. "Don't go up that road…" she whispered hoarsely. She turned around and, brushing past the marines as if they weren't there, she walked into an abandoned structure and out of sight.

Jim watched her go, confused, and worried. "Should we go after her?" one of the nearby marines asked.

"No, I don't think it'll do much good. Let's press on," Jim replied. The troops nodded and followed Jim, who took the lead. Reaching another bend in the road, he finally caught sight of Dominion troops. Three of them were walking down the road, towards them, scanning the ruined building. Jim wondered what they were looking for; trouble, or survivors?

The Dominion marines in their red armor hadn't spotted Jim and his boys yet, and so Jim had them take cover along both sides of the road. After a minute, the troops walked between them, and Jim gave the signal to open fire. Instantly there was the bright flash and loud noise of a gauss rifle firing, and the hot shards of metal that fired out of the end shot through the Dominion armor, killing all three. One of them turned when the firing began, and spotted Raynor. "Raynor…" he began, just before he fell, blood-soaked holes piercing his armor.

Jim's troops gathered again in the center of the road. They looked down briefly at the corpses of the Dominion marines, and then Jim led his troops further up the road. The buildings around them began to look more and more recent, but signs of recent violence were evident. Bullet holes marked the side of buildings like ugly sores. A few corpses were seen in the ruins, and blood splattered up the walls.

As they continued, James looked ahead and saw a holoboard, projecting a holographic image of Arcturus Mengsk, spouting propaganda. "Keep a close eye on your neighbors…" the synthetic voice ranted. Behind the holoboard was a large billboard with more propaganda, but spray-painted over the words in bright green was "MENGSK LIES!". Jim smiled at the sight, and then turned to the holoboard.

"I'm getting mighty tired of seeing your face. Take it down," he ordered his troops. The marines raised their rifles and let a salvo loose against the holoboard. The image disappeared beneath an explosion of electrical sparks, the synthetic voice dying in mid-sentence. Jim watched the holoboard die dispassionately, and then lead his troops forward again.

Jim passed more ruined settlements, and he came across a man. The man was on his knees, looking at a charred patch of ground. When he heard Jim coming up, the man looked up, his eyes pleading. "My neighbors… my family…" he moaned, looking back down. Jim reached a hand out, but the man screamed and ran from him.

"This is starting to look ugly," Jim said. There was a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Looking around, he saw the troops were unnerved as well, and so he decided to press on. There was no use turning back now.

As they reached what seemed to be the town center, a beeping sound informed him that the Adjunct was patching into his armor. He saw the holographic image of her pop up on his internal view-screen. "Commander, a large Dominion force is gathering at the center of town," she informed him. Jim made his men take cover, and peering ahead he saw that it was true. At least fifteen Dominion marines had gathered, coming out of the buildings around them.

Jim smiled. "Then I guess it's time for that 'special delivery' we talked about," he said. There was the sound of a muffled boom, as if there was an explosion off in the distance, followed by a hissing sound that steadily got louder. The Dominion marines looked around in alarm, and then in confusion as the hissing grew louder. Too late one of them looked up just as a drop pod landed nearby.

Three drop pods fell from the sky. One of them crashed into a group of Dominion marines. The drop pods instantly opened, and marines in blue armor popped out, unleashing a barrage of fire on the surprised Dominion forces. Jim got out of cover and charged the troops, firing his gauss rifle. One of the Dominion marines recovered his wits fast enough to fire a volley in Raynor's direction. The bullets missed him, but they shot down one of his marines behind him. In a rage, Jim fired a precise volley at the Dominion marine, and he fell.

The Dominion force dead, Jim returned to the marine who had been shot down in the battle. Jim looked down at him, but it was too late. The man was dead. Jim gathered up his remaining troops and ordered them to follow him once again. They passed through the town square, which was now dead quiet. Although the bulk of the Dominion force had just been destroyed, Jim still didn't know what had happened to the locals.

The answer to that question was just ahead. A large crowd of people stood in a line, with an armored personal transporter at the front, and flanked by a row of Dominion guards. Some of the prisoners, as that's what they obviously were, gazed on straight ahead, horrified at what they had seen. Others glared rebelliously at their captors. Still others shivered with fright. Men, women, and children all were bunched up under the gaze of the Dominion marines.

"I told you," one of the Dominion guards said, "You'll get a meal when we reach the dig site." At the words 'dig site' a shiver of fear ran through the crowd.

One of the men in the back looked up, terrified. "My brother went to the mines last week. He never came back…" he said. The man walked backward slowly, trying to escape notice. It didn't work.

"We got a runner!" one of the Dominion marines shouted, raising his gauss rifle. The prisoner turned around and broke out in a sprint, but no matter how fast he could run, he wasn't faster than the gauss rifle bullets that ripped apart his skin.

"Damnit! They're shooting civilians! Get in there!" Jim shouted, raising up his gauss rifle and charging in himself. The Dominion troops looked up as Jim and his force rushed towards them. They fired their weapons at Jim's force. The armored personal carrier, which had a gun turret mounted on top, swiveled around and faced the oncoming troops. It fired its weapon at them as well. The prisoners scattered, running from the gunfire. Jim and his Raiders took cover, returning fire.

The Dominion troops were vastly outnumbered and had very little cover to take, and they quickly died to the Raiders. The armored transport fired it's turret, but several well aimed shots from the Raiders disabled the turret and then killed the driver. The battle over, Raynor and his boys walked into the center of the street, and the prisoners got up. They recognized the man who saved them.

"Thank you Raynor, we knew you wouldn't forget us!" one of the men called out to him. Jim looked around at the dirt-covered faces of the people, most of them in rags and bloody, some cradling broken arms or bruised legs. Mengsk was abusing people that nobody else would notice; the poor were easily oppressed.

_Mengsk has a lot to answer for,_ Jim thought to himself.

"There are more people still being held up ahead," one of the freed prisoners called, bringing Jim out of his thoughts. He motioned to his troops, and they walked past the destroyed hull of the transport and reached the prison block, the freed civilians following them. Jim told his troops to open up the prison blocks. The blocks were nothing more than ruined buildings outfitted with an electric fence. Cheap, crude, but effective.

The electric fences were powered down, and the gates opened. The civilians poured out of the buildings, shouting in joy and determination at their freedom. One of them, wearing large black goggles, came towards Raynor.

"Well, commander Raynor. Been awhile since we saw you around here," he said. Jim recognized the man from his days at Mar Sara. The man's name was Drake Kaiser, a merchant with a down-to-earth manner.

"We're with you Raynor!" Another man shouted. Some of the civilians broke open a weapons locker nearby. The gauss rifles were too heavy to use without being suited up, but the civilians were able to take grenades and Molotov's. Some even picked up old-fashioned rifles and handguns. Jim looked around at the mob, nodding at some of the men and women he knew. Wielding their weapons, the mob surged forward, Drake leading the charge.

Jim ran ahead of the mob. Ahead was the Logistics Headquarters, towering over a newly made base of operations. Alarms began blaring as the group entered. A small force of Dominion marines poured out of the nearby buildings. "Stop! This is a restricted area. You insurgents are all under arrest," one of them shouted, but it did no good. They were vastly outnumbered, and the combined firepower of Jim's marines and the mob quickly dispatched the meager guard.

A portion of the mob broke away and threw their explosives at a nearby Mengsk statue, shouting in elation as the statue broke into pieces and fell to the ground. Jim smiled as the statue fell, but frowned when a shadow passed overhead. Two vikings flew overhead. The vikings were a fairly recent addition to the Dominion army. Unstoppable air fighters, they were able to transform into a mobile ground walker, outfitted with very powerful gatling guns.

"Shoot them down!" Jim shouted. He aimed his gauss rifle up, firing at the low-flying ships, and the other marines quickly joined in. One of the vikings, a shot bursting through its left-side jet, began to dive uncontrollably. It tried to transform, but mid-transformation it crashed into the side of the logistics center, exploding, and then crashing to the ground a mangled mess of metal and fire. The other one flew lower to the ground, avoiding the Raiders and transforming into its walker mode.

Immediately the gatling guns sprang to life, spraying storms of bullets at the mob. The unarmored civilians fell to the bullets like butter yielding to a knife. The rest of the mob, instead of taking cover, charged the viking. The pilot, obviously afraid, began spraying bullets, but it didn't stop the frenzied mob. Once in range, a volley of explosives rained down on the walker, exploding on the hull. The gunfire stopped as the pilot got hit by burning shrapnel. Not satisfied, the mob jumped at the metal husk and began to push it. One of them jumped on top, firing his gun off in the air as the walker fell down.

Raynor watched the scene, smiling at their fervor, then moved to the logistics headquarters. He ordered his troops to fire shots at the key supports, and the building collapsed in a cloud of dust and rubble. The mob broke out in loud cheers as the building collapsed, even Jim joined in the celebration.

"I didn't think we could fight them, but we can!" one of the women said, smiling up at Jim.

"And now you have the weapons, and the resources to do it. Remember, Mengsk can only control you, if you let him," Jim told her, and the crowd around her. He trailed off and looked back at the burning wreckage of the headquarters, remembering who else had been controlled by Mengsk, four years ago.

The marines began to celebrate, lifting their visors and firing shots up in the air. Some of them began to flirt with the local women. One of them near Jim picked up on his somber mood and just looked straight ahead. Jim saw Drake, standing apart from the crowd. He was gazing off into the distance, towards the town square; tears rolling from his eyes.

It was a victory, but it was small. The force here had been poorly equipped and disorganized. Mengsk probably wouldn't even notice the deaths of these troops, and would merely send another group to retake the planet. Mengsk was still on the throne, and Jim felt no closer to defeating him.

Smiling at some of the people as he passed them, he put a gauntleted hand on Drake's shoulder, and then called in his transport. He was going back to JoeyRay's bar, where he could get a drink. A strong drink.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Outlaws

Jim sat down again at the bar, taking a heavy drink from behind the counter. It tasted disgusting, but he had himself another glass. He played with a photo that he had been given by one of the civilians of Backwater Station. The picture was of the mob taking down the viking, one of them riding on top just as it was about to fall. Jim laughed at the picture, then pinned it up to the board over the jukebox.

The victory had been small, but it had a large effect on the populous. The planet's inhabitants were now in open revolt against Mengsk, attacking other installations on the planet surface. Many of them signed up to join Raynor's Raiders. The increase in manpower, weapons, and supplies gave a much-needed boost to the Raiders.

But Jim couldn't help but feel that it wasn't enough. He sat down and took another heavy drink, then turned his eyes to the other photo nearby. Sarah Kerrigan. He sighed, looking into her eyes.

"Sometimes, Sarah, I think it would be better if you'd just… died that day," he whispered. He let the photo fall down.

There was a sound behind him, and the door to JoeyRays Bar opened. Raynor didn't turn around, but he immediately tensed. He heard footsteps, and creaking. From the sound of the heavy footsteps, whoever was behind him was in a marine suit. Careful not to move too quickly or turn around, Jim slowly moved his hand toward his pistol, which was on the counter next to his drink.

"You know, for the most wanted man in the sector, you ain't that hard to find," a voice behind him said. Jim tensed his hand over the grip of his gun. One quick spin, a single shot. Hopefully it would be enough.

"I had to see it for myself," The voice continued in a southern drawl, as the visor to the suit lifted, "Little Jimmy Raynor, the people's hero." Jim relaxed, recognizing the voice, and grabbing his drink instead of his gun.

"Tychus Findlay," Jim said, chuckling. It'd been awhile since he laughed, even a little. "Nice suit," he said.

"Pays to be prepared," Tychus Findlay said, leaning on the counter next to Raynor, sending the bottles there crashing to the floor. He was wearing a full suit of armor, but even without it Jim knew that he was a monster of a man. His body was muscular beyond belief, making anyone else next to him look like a twig. His face was horribly scared on the left side of his face, his teeth slightly yellow and his eyes pale brown. He was an opposing figure, even without the armor. With it, he stood head-over-shoulders taller than Jim and was at least three times as wide. He was smoking a cigar as he leaned closely to Jim.

"I heard they put you on ice. Life sentence," Jim said, pouring himself a drink, "What happened? You get time off for good behavior?"

"That's right, old buddy. I'm a model citizen now," Tychus responded, taking a drag from his cigar.

Jim laughed. He hadn't seen Tychus in a long time. It was good to see an old friend. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Jim asked.

"Just a friendly, business proposition," Tychus responded, smiling and putting out his cigar. Jim laughed silently. Fresh out of prison, and Tychus was already out for some 'business'.

"Do you even know what the Dominion are doing out here?" Tychus asked him searchingly. Jim shook the bottle, finding it empty.

"I'm guessing you're about to tell me," Jim mused.

"They're digging up ancient alien artifacts, old buddy. Your boy Mengsk has gone crazy for 'em. But I got a contact who will pay top dollar for every artifact we… liberate… from the Dominion," Tychus said, picking up another bottle from behind the counter.

Jim thought about the revolution, the men who were counting on him to take down Mengsk. A revolution needed money. "Well, I guess I can hardly pass that up, now can I, Tychus?" Jim said.

"Partners then," Tychus said, pouring a drink, and then passing it over to Jim. "Sixty-forty."

"Seventy-thirty. My way," Jim said, picking up the drink. Tychus didn't object, just smiled at Raynor. Jim laughed. "Feels like old times already," he said.

"Old times," Tychus confirmed, tapping the bottle to Jim's glass.

Jim drank down his glass, and then set it down. "Call me curious," Jim started, "but how'd you get out?" he asked.

Tychus laughed. "Well, I busted out of my cryo-freezer while they were transportin' me to New Folsom. Ohhh, I must have killed about a dozen of those guards with my bare hands," Tychus said.

Jim laughed. Tychus always loved to embellish his stories "Yeah, I've heard this one before. But you left out the part where you walked on water. Made off with the warden's daughter," Jim said, smiling.

"Don't you get uppity with me boy," Tychus growled "I heard about you becoming a big-time freedom fighter while I was away. What happen Jimmy? The war for truth and justice become too much for you?" he asked, motioning to the drinks.

"I ain't licked yet, Tychus," Jim said, "And I promise you, Mengsk is going down; one way or another."

The computer started to beep, and Jim turned to see the Adjunct hologram appear. "Commander, I have located the dig site and have visual scanners in place," the Adjunct informed him. On the screen, Jim saw a series of large excavation holes, but the largest had a huge crane reaching down into it. A small Dominion base was stationed there, with several troops nearby.

"This old outpost don't look like anything special," Jim said.

"Keep your shirt on, Jimmy. Dominion engineers been digging out here for months," Tychus said, "See that crane? They're getting ready to move that artifact off-world."

"Well, I'll be damned," Jim said, seeing the crane raise up, and some sort of bright blue artifact being lifted up with it.

"See?" Tychus said, "You gotta have a little more faith, Jimmy."

"Alright," Jim said, "Let's go smash that base and haul that baby outta there." He stood up, and turned to the hologram. "Adjunct, get my troops prepped and get a forward base set-up. I'll be there shortly," he said. The Adjunct vanished, and Jim and Tychus left to go to the transport.

About an hour later the dropship carrying Jim and Tychus landed at the forward base. Stationed in a position between two cliffs, the base was safe from Dominion patrols and would allow Jim to gather his forces before assaulting the base. Jim was suited up in his suit, and Tychus was still wearing his suit. The base was well established, with enough barracks to house his incoming troops and supply depots to keep them supplied.

"Commander Raynor," a marine said, coming up to him and saluting, "the forward base is established, and our troops are ready to move out," he said.

"Well, looks like we're ready to take that artifact," Tychus said, gazing off in the distance.

"Hold on Tychus. We should wait just a little longer for some more troops. When will more troops be arriving?" he asked the marine.

"Not sure, commander. There are three more squads positioned at various towns along Mar Sara. The next one should be here in about half an hour," he replied.

"Alright. We'll wait for those reinforcements and then move out," Raynor said. Tychus twitched and walked to the edge of the base, looking ahead to the silhouette of the crane. He always got twitchy before a battle.

Jim went to inspect the base. As he inspected his troops, there was a beeping in his armor and the Adjunct patched into his armor. "Commander, the Dominion is attacking a rebel base to the south-west," the Adjunct informed him.

"Rebel base?" Raynor asked. The marine from before turned to Jim. "A few of the Mar Sara civilians got some Dominion battle armor, and have formed a small rebel band. We weren't aware they were in the area," he said.

"Good," Tychus said, overhearing the conversation, "That'll keep the Dominion off our backs," he said.

Jim turned, horrified that his friend would say that, but not really surprised. That had always been the way with Tychus. "Those people need our help, Tychus! There's no way we're leaving 'em to rot," Jim said. Tychus shrugged.

"Alright, we won't wait up for reinforcements. You two," Raynor said, indicating two marines, "Gather up our forces. I want six men left behind for defense. Tychus, you stay behind and defend as well," Jim said. Tychus was about to object, but Jim cut him off. "No arguments, Tychus. When the next squad arrives, rendezvous with us near the Dominion outpost." Tychus growled something, but went off to gather up the six men that would guard the base.

Jim gathered up the remaining troops and lead them across the desert-like Mar Sara to the southwest. They passed a few towns, but they were all abandoned, the former occupants either moving away from the Dominion dig site, or kidnapped and forced to work there.

They heard the battle before they saw it. Gunfire in the distance and muzzle flashes alerted Jim to the location of the Rebel base. His troops quickly flanked around him in formation, and charged into the battle.

The rebels were positioned on the higher ground of an installation, set in the middle of another town. The civilians in the town were all hiding, fleeing from the battle. There were only a few rebels, and even with the high ground, they were too outnumbed to survive for long. Raynor's Raiders swept into the battle, taking cover behind buildings and piles of scrap before firing on the Dominion marines. The tides of the battle quickly turned, as the Dominion marines were now surrounded and outgunned. The enemy refused to surrender, fighting to the last man, but it was ultimately useless.

Several of Jim's men were injured, but medics who had been behind the ranks of marines quickly began to work on the injured, saving those that they could. The rebels made their way to Raynor. The lead one opened his visor, and Raynor recognized him.

"Well well. Drake Kaiser. So you're the one leading this sorry band of rebels?" Jim asked.

Drake nodded. Even under the visor, he still wore the goggles. "That's right. I figure it's time to strike back against the Dominion," he said.

"I never took you for much of a fighter, Drake," Jim said. Indeed, Drake had always been a peaceful man. He had lived his life as a simple merchant, selling supplies, giving discounts generously. He was known for his generosity and his calm, down-to-earth manner. It looked like between the Zerg, Protoss, and the Dominion, that Drake was gone.

"The Dominion… They stole everything from me. They came and killed my wife, and my children," Drake said, anger entering his voice as he thought about it. "I have nothing left now, except for vengeance," he finished, his anger dissolving into bitterness.

Jim came forward and put a hand on his shoulder. He felt for the man, knew his pain. "Join us, Drake. We'll help you get back at the Dominion," he said.

"Alright, just tell us where you want us," Drake said.

Jim let his hand fall, and then turned to his troops. "Okay, get our wounded patched up, then we're outta here," he said.

The medics moved between the injured, inspecting their injuries and restoring them where possible. Jim nodded when they told him that three of their marines had died in the confrontation. "Okay. We're going to move up now, before the Dominion has a chance to recover from their losses," Jim said, rounding up his troops, along with the new rebel marines, and marched them north-east. The villagers, coming out of their homes, cheered as they marched out.

"Tychus, what's the situation on your end?" Jim asked through his communicator.

After a moment, he heard the returning voice of Tychus say, "Those reinforcements of yours arrived just a few minutes ago. We'll on our way to the site."

"Good, I'll have the Adjunct put a marker on my armor location. Rendezvous with me before attacking," Jim said. Tychus grunted his agreement, and Jim turned off the communicator.

After several minutes of walking, Jim saw Tychus arriving, leading about fifteen marines. Tychus was hoisting a large gatling gauss rifle. Jim wondered where he had found it, and then realized it was an outfitted viking turret.

"So, are you ready for a little action, Tychus?" Jim asked.

"Ready? Oh Jimmy, it's been too long. Let's go crack some skulls," he said.

Jim crossed over the next hill, and then peered down at the Dominion outpost. There was a bunker set up in a forward position, and Jim was pretty sure that it was manned. The distance was still too far to see much else.

"Okay boys, let's do this," he said, ordering his troops to attack the base.

In a charge, the marines came over the hill and marched towards the Dominion outpost. The marines in the bunker saw them coming, and opened fire. The opening shots hit several of Raynor's marines, making them fall down to the ground. Tychus roared a battle cry as he set his gatling gun down on a rock and began to fire at the bunker. The other marines took cover where they could, firing at the bunker. The fortified hull of the bunker made it tough for gauss rifle shots to break. Jim didn't stop his charge, dodging the bullet fire he got close to the bunker and, taking out a grenade, tossed it through one of the slots. Immediately there was an explosion, and the roof of the bunker collapsed.

"Nice job cleaning out that bunker, Jimmy. Between your boys and my skills, we are going to go a long way together," Tychus said, coming up alongside Jim.

"Don't get comfortable yet, Tychus," Jim said. Just as he spoke, his Adjunct patched into his armor. "Warning," she said, "Dominion Hellions approaching."

"Oh hell, take cover!" Jim said. He saw the hellion speeding over the next hill. The Hellions were outfitted land-rovers, mounted with an anti-personal flamethrower. As he yelled his orders, one of the Hellions came into range. It fired a liquid stream of napalm in a straight line. One of Jim's marines didn't get out of the way in time. The napalm covered him, setting him on fire and literally cooked him inside of his armor. The man screamed as he fell down.

"Damnit, take it down!" Jim yelled. Tychus began firing at the hellion, and the other marines joined in. Two more hellions began racing towards them, and Jim cursed. The marines ran between the rocks, barely dodging the streams of napalm that splashed fire across the landscape. For some, barely wasn't close enough.

Suddenly, Drake hopped from behind cover and landed on top of one of the hellions. He slammed his fist into the driver's face, instantly killing him. Instantly he ripped off the napalm turret and turned it to one of the other hellions. Napalm fired from the end and splashed onto the hellion, the fire ravishing the poor man driving it. The other hellion turned to face Drake, but gunfire from Tychus' weapon broke through the hull and hit the main pressure tanks, causing the hellion to explode violently.

"Haha, now that's more like it," Tychus laughed. The medics went to see to the health of those sprayed with the napalm, but it was a lost cause. All-in-all, they didn't lose that many troops, mainly because of Drake's actions.

"That was something you pulled off there," Jim told him. Drake just shrugged his shoulders. He looked back to the dead marines. Jim understood what he was thinking. "You can never save everyone. Sometimes, people die. It's the cost of war. They knew what they were giving their lives for, and they believed in it," Jim said. Drake just shrugged again, not looking at Jim. It took a while to accept.

"Alright, let's get in there!" Jim shouted. The rest of the marines hopped to their feet, marching quickly into the outpost. Once they were there, the remaining Dominion troops quickly surrendered, being vastly outnumbered by Raynor's troops. Drake looked with disgust at the Dominion marines, but accented to Raynor's decision to accept their surrender.

Jim entered the command center of the outpost, patching the Adjunct into the system. After a moment, a hologram of the Adjunct appeared. "Crane controls accessed," she said, "Decrypting security overrides." There was a short pause, and then, "Crane control established."

Jim walked out of the command center and watched as the crane turned its load around, setting the artifact on the ground. The artifact was black with a bright blue aura emanating from it. Looking at it made Jim feel uneasy.

"Beautiful," Tychus said, "Now let's get outta here."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Zero Hour

Jim walked through the town, Tychus by his side. After clearing out the dig site, they returned to where the Rebel Base had been situated. The Dominion marines had been stripped of their armor and placed in holding cells. Raynor planned to leave several of his troops behind in Mar Sara, to hold off the inevitable Dominion counter-attack. He was leaving Drake in charge of them, a position Jim knew he could handle beautifully.

For the first time, Jim began to feel good about this mission. He had severely weakened Mengsk's hold on a planet, kept Mengsk from an alien artifact he wanted, and would soon be able to sell that artifact for credits, allowing him to gain more power. He felt like his rebellion could really start to pick up momentum now. He smiled at the people as they waved at him from their dingy shelters.

Tychus and Jim went to the local bar, celebrating their victory over a few good drinks. Tychus was still in his combat suit, refusing to take it off. Jim didn't really ask him about it; it was probably just Tychus being Tychus. Jim shared stories about the Brood Wars with Tychus, who had been in the freezer the whole time. It must have been a lot to take in, all of this happening while he was gone, but Tychus took it all in stride.

Tychus pointed up to a skull on the wall of a hydralisk. The local bartender had found the skull and mounted it on the wall, stringing old Christmas lights through its eyes and mouth. "What's it like, Jimmy. Fightin' them Zerg?"

Jim stayed silent a moment, memories of the Zerg flowing through his mind. "All of the scrapes we were in back in the day; all the narrow escapes. None of it compares to how terrible they are, Tychus," Jim said, taking a drink, then continuing, "You don't know what real fear is until you have a thousand of these sons of bitches barreling down on you."

Tychus grunted. Jim knew he couldn't really understand. Just looking at the skull on the wall gave Jim the shivers. The Zerg were more terrible than anyone could have predicted. Jim just wondered when they would strike again; when they would end their ominous silence.

After a few hours, Tychus turned to Jim and asked, "So what are we gonna do now, little Jimmy?" he asked.

"I have transport coming to pick us up. All we gotta do is sit tight," Jim replied.

"Don't sound too hard," Tychus said. "I figure we earned ourselves a little R&R…"

There was suddenly a loud beeping, an alarm. Jim pulled out a small hand-held hologram projector, which shortly burst to life, showing a hologram of the Adjunct. "Commander, I'm picking up a large concentration of Zerg bio-signatures landing near the old dig site," she said.

At the mention of Zerg, there was dead silence. Panic struck the crowd in a wave, silencing them all. Jim's eyes were wide, and then he turned to Tychus. The artifact. The Zerg had landed near the dig site. They were after the artifact. "I shoulda known it," Jim growled, "Damnit Tychus!..."

"I swear man," Tychus interrupted, "I didn't know nothing about no Zerg."

The Adjunct continued, "Given their current course, the Zerg will overrun this current location, within the hour."

That sparked absolute panic. The other patrons of the bar jumped to their feet, some of them screaming, others just silently running out to warn their neighbors, or gather up some supplies. Jim stood up, immediately alerting two of his marines that he noticed were in the bar. "Get the word out. I want every man able to operate a Marine suit suited up, and then evacuate every man, woman, and child to the installation. I want the artifact up there as well," he ordered the two men. They saluted and ran off.

Tychus flexed his muscles. Jim could tell he was excited. "We gonna smash them Zerg, Jimmy?" he asked.

Jim shook his head. Tychus didn't understand. "We don't have the troops. There's too many Zerg. We gotta hold out long enough for extraction," Jim said. He looked up at the hydralisk skull, "We're gonna have a real fight on our hands here."

Tychus just shrugged again. "I've been in plenty of hold-outs before," he said.

"Not against the Zerg you ain't," Jim said, turning and walking out of the bar. The entire town resembled a stirred anthill, people running every which way, people screaming. Night was falling, but it couldn't hide an ominous glow that was rising in the distance, and the dark shapes that were falling from the sky.

He made his way to the nearest barracks where he had stored his armor. He quickly got suited up and ran out of the barracks. He was glad to see that the activity was dying down, the civilians running towards the installation. He patched into the Adjunct from his armor.

"Adjunct, relay the following orders to my troops. All forces need to get to the installation immediately. I want bunkers set up at the entrances, and a few missle turrets around the perimeter. Our extraction will be here soon, we just gotta hold out," Jim told her. He heard beeping that confirmed that his orders had been patched to his troops. Nodding his head in satisfaction, he made his way to the installation himself, yelling at civilians to get their asses to higher ground.

Once he got there, he saw with satisfaction that the bunkers were being constructed. The installation used to be a large factory that produced vulture bikes. It had been destroyed in the events of the Great War, but the Dominion had repaired the foundation and used it as a landing zone for incoming ships. It was placed on a small island overlooking a vast canyon. Two natural bridges were the only way to cross the canyon and reach the installation, and it was on these bridges that Jim had the bunkers constructed. There was then a larger walkway that spanned the outer edge of the foundation, and the center was elevated. There was a single ramp leading to the high ground, and Jim had his men construct two more bunkers.

The SCVs were busy working on the bunkers, and Jim nodded at them. The SCVs were mobile exoskeletons that, although difficult to handle, could weld minerals and metal seamlessly together. That, combined with advanced computer navigation, allowed the rapid creation of simple structures like bunkers and missile turrets. Without that, they would all be dead when the Zerg arrived.

"Alright, I want men manned in those bunkers. The rest of you, set up behind the bunker line. I want a patrol of marines supporting the missile turrets as well," he said. The marines around him saluted, and then went off to fulfill his orders. The turrets had been set up around the walkway, with a few more stationed on the higher section. A few unsuited men stood around the turrets, ready to reload the missile tubes when they ran low, and a single guy was in the center, ready to fire off the anti-air projectiles at anything that came into their territory.

As they scrambled to positions, there was a beeping on Jim's internal suit computer. Heat scanners were picking up a group of Zerg as they ran through the streets of the town.

"Here they come!" a marine yelled, having received the same signal. Jim watched as the heat signatures got closer. The Zerg ran into buildings, ripping apart walls and furniture, searching for signs of life. One of them turned the corner and saw the defensive line set up.

The zergling creature was about three feet tall and four feet long. It had large wings sprouting out of its back, although it couldn't fly. It had huge, webbed feet with wicked-looking talons, and its jaws were lined with razor-sharp teeth. Its eyes were a glowing orange, and its eyes flared when it saw the marines, waiting for it.

Immediately the creature let out a cry and charged at them. Another six of the creatures came around the corner and followed without a second thought. Waiting for them to get closer, the marines at the front line held their fire just long enough, and then opened up hell on the zerglings. The six zerglings didn't have a chance as the gauss rifle shots tore through their armored hides, bringing them down in sprays of purple ichor that acted as the zergling blood.

"Well, they seem to go down pretty easy," Tychus said, but Raynor just shook his head.

"That was only a scouting party. Now that they know we're here, they'll start to attack in force," Jim said.

After another five minutes, Jim was proven correct. A wave of new heat signatures appeared on their radars, and nearly forty zerglings poured down the streets towards their position. Jim loaded his gauss rifle, and then opened fire on the advancing wave. The first volley of shots took down the first half of the zerglings, but it wasn't enough for all of them. The zerglings in the back easily navigated around their fallen comrades and reached the defensive line.

Once in range, the zerglings leaped at the bunker in a frenzy. Their powerful claws tore holes into the bunker's armor, and their vicious teeth snapped through the opening. The marines inside of the bunker shot the zerglings through the newly formed holes. One of the zerglings leaped over the bunker and landed on top of a marine. It raised its claw to impale into his face, but Jim shot the zergling just in time, its dark-purple blood splattering over the downed marine.

Within seconds, the zerglings were dead, their bodies still spraying their disgusting ichor, a few still twitching mechanically. A few of the marines on the line appeared shaken, obviously never having seen a Zerg attack before. Those that had fought Zerg before buckled down. They knew more waves were coming, and it was only going to get worse.

Jim helped the downed marine to his feet, and then turned to some of his boys. "Get some SCVs repairing those bunkers," he said. Before a minute had passed an SCV pushed its way through the crowd, and began welding the holes in the bunker shut. Before long, it looked as good as new. If not for the bodies lying all around it, you might think that nothing had happened.

Jim silently walked down the line, encouraging his fellow marines. Tychus was standing near the front, examining one of the dead zerglings. Suddenly, a marine came up behind Jim. "Sir, we picked up a transmission just now," he said, and then patched it into Jim's armor. After a moment, the transmission began.

"To anyone hearing this message, we're pinned down near the Backwater Installation. Please assist," it said. Jim frowned. Apparently not all of his troops had made it back in time. Jim looked at the coordinates. They weren't far from their current location. At the same time, Jim didn't feel comfortable breaking a few of his troops away to help them, fearing that it would weaken the line. But he'd be damned if he let them die.

Jim began to open his mouth to issue orders, but then a voice behind him said, "I'll go." Jim turned, and he saw that the marine that had given him the transmission had been Drake. Drake looked back at him, his visor lifted, a serious expression on his face. Jim looked at him a moment, and then nodded. "Alright, we'll give you a small bit of marines. The Zerg presence isn't too heavy right now, you should be able to rescue them and get back here. But make sure you hurry, you won't survive if you get caught in an incoming attack wave," Jim instructed him.

Drake nodded, and then he motioned at eight nearby marines to accompany him. They walked past the defensive line. A few of the marines nodded grimly at them. Drake picked his way past the dead zerglings, and leading the way he and his troops made their way to the trapped team's coordinates.

Drake turned and looked at the defensive line one last time, and then led his troops onward. He had great respect for Jim as a leader, and he was glad to be able to serve under him. His marines followed him, carefully scanning the surroundings. Drake did as well, but he didn't slow down as he did it, careful to keep the marines moving at a steady trot.

Suddenly the heavy stomps of their metal boots on rocky ground was replaced by the sound of a gentle squishing sound, as if they were stepping in mud. Drake looked down, and saw that the ground was covered in purple slime. The slime rippled and moved, as if it were alive and had the consistency of frozen pudding. "What the hell is it?" one of the marines behind him asked, obviously never having seen the Zerg before.

"It's called creep. The Zerg spread it throughout their territory," Drake said. The marine didn't seem comforted by the idea of being in Zerg territory. Drake ignored it and continued trotting ahead, and the others followed.

It was unusually quiet as they marched through the abandoned countryside. There were no Zerg in sight. The wind was silent. Nobody talked or even breathed very loud. Drake hoped they would reach them soon.

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound, coming from seemingly all around them. One of the marines stopped in confusion, a big mistake.

The ground underneath the marine burst open, a deadly Zerg creature bursting out underneath him. Drake recognized it as a hydralisk. It looked like a large snake that stood up on its tail. Its jaws were huge and filled with razor teeth. Two huge claws on the side of the creature reached up, and two large flaps along its back with wicked looking spines sprouting out of its back. The hydralisk's claws stabbed into the screaming marine, easily piercing the marine's armor. He didn't even have a chance to raise his gauss rifle.

"Kill it!" Drake shouted, raising his gauss rifle and firing. The Hydralisk continued to stab the screaming marine repeatedly, even with the gauss rifle shots shooting through it, and even as it collapsed to the ground twitching. Suddenly another hydralisk burst out of the ground underneath one of the other marines, knocking him to the ground, and three zerglings burst their way out of the ground, sending bits of dirt flying everywhere and letting loose terrible screams.  
>"Oh shit!" one of the marines screamed, whipping around to fire at a zergling just as it pounced on top of him. The zergling's jaws locked around the marine's arms, ripping them off in a bloody mess. One of the other marines fired at the zergling with his gauss rifle, killing it, but was immediately attacked from behind by the surviving hydralisk.<p>

Drake slammed his rifle against the skull of a zergling as it leaped for him, knocking it to the ground; and then shooting it before it could get back up. They hydralisk pushed its skin-flaps back against its body, and then shot them out in a weird flapping motion. The flap sent a volley of spines that imbedded themselves through the armor of another marine, who went down screaming. Drake immediately shot down the hydralisk before it could release another deadly volley.

Then it was all over. The dead Zerg were still twitching, ichor shooting from their wounds. Drake turned and surveyed the surviving marines. They were all shaken, all with blood-splattered armor. After looking at them, Drake got his bearings using the Adjunct in his armor, and then nodded in the direction they had been going before, not trusting himself to speak. Without a word, the group continued moving.

They continued walking along the creep, jumping whenever they heard a sound. At one point they heard a large group of zerglings in the distance, but luckily they didn't come close. They suddenly came to a large cliff wall, reaching up before them, and Drake stopped, confused. Their coordinates said that they were right around here.

"Hey! Over here!" a voice called. Drake turned, and saw a small group of marines nestled in the rocks along the cliff wall. The marines got out from behind cover and came down to meet them.

"We thought we were goners," one of them said.

"We're not back to base yet," Drake said. The marines were carrying a load of supplies, but Drake made them set it down. He didn't want them to be slowed, and we wanted every marine to have a free gun hand.

"Come on, let's get back to base," Drake said, motioning at the marines.

Jim watched the distance, wondering about his friend, Drake. The Zerg didn't give him much time to think, however. Only a few minutes after they left, another wave of zerglings pushed at their position, followed by another. They had been arriving like clockwork every several minutes. So far they had been held back without too much trouble, but Jim wondered when they were going to throw their full strength at their line.

He slowly patrolled back and forth between the two bridges, making sure every troop was well supplied on ammo. He ordered the men to push the bodies of the dead zerglings off the bridge and into the canyon below. He didn't want those bodies to get in the way of their shooting. He also ordered the bodies of the few marines who had died pushed over the cliff as well. As much as they deserved a proper burial, they didn't have time, and Jim didn't want the bodies demoralizing the troops.

As he watched a cascade of bodies falling into the deep ravine, he suddenly heard a beeping in his internal computer. Looking at the notification, he saw several bio-signs moving towards them. Very quickly. And over cliffs.

"Multiple air boogies detected," Tychus said next to him, grinning. "ETA: Right the hell now!" As he finished speaking Jim saw the mutalisks fly over next hill. They looked like large worms, curled into a J-hook shape, with two large wings that flapped in a steady, smooth motion. The mutalisks opened their mouth, located at the end of their tail, and unleashed a volley of green projectiles.

Jim knew that the projectiles were called glaive worms, and were literally living creatures that exploded whenever they hit something in a corrosive splash of green acid. Even worse, they could aim themselves in the air, so they never missed, and they could even hop between targets before they died.

The first volley of glaive worms splashed against the marines on the front line. One of the marines screamed; the unfortunate bastard had his visor up, and the glaive worm landed right on his face. One of the other glaive worms crashed into one of the bunkers, the glaive worm burning a hole right in the middle, and its explosive acid injuring the marines within.

The marines opened fire. The mutalisks rolled in the air to dodge them. One of the mutalisks couldn't dodge all of the shots, and its wings were instantly shredded. Screeching, it flapped its wings frantically to no avail as it fell into the ravine. The other mutalisks flew past them, and then banked around to do another run.

"Missile turrets! Shoot them down!" Jim shouted. One of the missile turrets spun to face the mutalisks. After a moment, it fired a pair of anti-air missiles. The advanced targeting computer in the missile turret made it impossible for the mutalisks to dodge, and in a frightful explosion the mutalisks exploded into red giblets. The last two abandoned their bombing run and flew out of the turret's range, and then flew away.

Jim watched them go. He ordered the injured to be cared for, and the bunkers repaired. But right as he issued the order, he saw another wave of zerglings advancing towards them. "Ah hell," he muttered, raising up his gauss rifle.

"Keep 'em comin', Jimmy. I can do this all day," Tychus shouted. He hoisted up his giant gatling gun and began to fire upon the advancing horde. The zerglings in the front collapsed under the combined fire of the marines, but as usual the zerglings in the back leaped over the bodies and continued the charge.

Jim suddenly saw another Zerg creature push its way up to the bunker. It looked something like a crab standing on two feet, with a giant spiked shell that covered its entire body. A face poked out of the front, but even that was covered by armored jaws with vicious looking teeth. Jim had never seen it before, but the Zerg were always evolving.

"Adjunct, what the hell is that thing?" he asked.

There was a short delay, and then, "It is a Zerg creature, commander, first seen about a year ago. Called the roach, it is extremely armored and can shoot streams of dangerous acid. Caution is advised."

"No shit," Raynor retorted, and then began to shoot at it. The shots bounced off the armor harmlessly, the roach barely seemed to notice. It turned to face the bunker. It withdrew its head inside, and then suddenly snapped its head forward, the jaws opening wide. A glistening stream of acid erupted from between its jaws and sprayed onto the bunker. The acid easily melted through the outer layer in a sickening sizzling sound.

The zerglings rushed past the roach, and one of them leaped in through the new hole in the side. The marines inside screamed and shot at it, but the zergling easily tore into them in such tight quarters. The zerglings fell in another barrage of fire, leaving only a few injured zerglings and the roach. The roach pulled its head back, preparing to fire again.

Suddenly the roach screeched inhumanly, and fell forward to the ground. Drake came out of cover, leading a multitude of marines with him. The marines seemed happy to be back, but frowned when they saw the obvious signs of devastation. They quickly crossed the bridge, and Drake walked up to Raynor.

"I'm back, Raynor. It's an absolute hell out there. Goddamned miracle we made it back," Drake said. Jim saw that his armor was covered in blood, a lot of it Zerg blood.

"Good job rescuing them, Drake. Almost thought you wouldn't make it back," Jim said. He motioned at the returning troops to take defensive formations. Several marines cleared out the bunker of the dead bodies, but couldn't do anything for the bloodstains and the smell. An SCV quickly advanced to repair it.

Drake surveyed the troops around them. Some of the marines were dutifully checking their ammo, while others were scanning the horizon for the next wave. Some just stared on blankly as the bodies were pushed into the ravine; comrades they had fought beside not even given the time for a decent burial. Only Tychus seemed to be enjoying himself, but even he looked a little worried. "Are we going to make it, Jim?" Drake asked suddenly.

Jim turned back to him. "Hell yeah we are. I've got the Hyperion coming for us, and it'll be here by dawn. Just hold your formations, and pretty soon we're all be telling stories about this over some nice, hard drinks," Jim said, loudly enough for all the marines nearby to hear. Drake watched as the marines who heard it perked up, suddenly more alert, more responsible. Jim had that effect on people, inspiring them. He was a natural leader.

"By the way, how'd a yella belly like you kill that Zerg, that… roach, thing?" Tychus asked Drake. Drake turned to look at him. Drake and Tychus did not get along very well. Drake had heard about how Tychus had been willing to abandon Drake and his men to attack the Dominion outpost the other day, and Tychus found Drake's sullen and withdrawn manner 'boring', and showed the mark of a 'coward'.

Despite their mutual loathing, Drake turned to answer. "I noticed that when it fires the acid, little plates push up on its back, probably to take in air as a part of a chemical reaction. I fired a shot in there, and it seemed to work," Drake said.

Tychus scratched his head. "Seems a bit complicated. I think I'll just stick with shootin' 'em," he said. Drake shrugged, grabbed a clip of ammo, and walked to the front line.

"Commander Raynor! We have Zerg incoming!" one of the marines yelled.

"There's more coming from over here!" another marine yelled.

"Shit! They're attacking from both sides!" Jim yelled.

"Mutalisks!" Drake yelled, seeing their shapes flying above the advancing hordes.

The advancing swarm made even Tychus pause. Before there had been about forty, maybe fifty zerglings. There looked like there were hundreds now, mixed in with groups of hydralisks and roaches. At least two dozen mutalisks swarmed in the skies above, shrieking as they flew near.

"Shoot them!" it was impossible to tell who shouted out the command, but immediately everyone began to shoot. Gauss rifle shots flew in all directions. Tychus let loose a battle cry as he began to shoot. Drake yelled as well, firing shots at the oncoming swarm. Missiles from the turrets fired at the oncoming mutalisks, but only took down a few.

Within seconds explosive glaive worms fell down on top of the line of marines, and the mutalisks flew away, banking around for another run. The bodies of the zerglings were pushed off of the bridges and into the ravine. Luckily the narrow walkways prevented the Zerg from rushing in all at once, and several of them were even pushed into the ravine by their comrades, too anxious to get to the front. Once the hydralisks came in range, deadly spines flew through the air and imbedded into the marines unlucky enough to be caught in the way.

Jim ran to the front of the line, using the butt of his rifle to cave in the skull of a zergling that leaped towards him. He fired his rifle at another zergling that tried to climb on top of the bunker. A roach came near, and it headbutted a nearby marine off the side of the cliff. Jim turned around and shot at it, one of the shots was lucky enough to get under its armor and into its fragile skin underneath, injuring it. The injured roach screeched in pain, and was immediately shoved off the cliff by another roach.

There was an explosion of acid nearby as the mutalisks swarmed above again, screeching loudly. The missile turret continued to lock onto them and fire whenever they came into range, and other marines aimed and shot at them whenever possible.

"You want some of this!" Tychus shouted, shooting his gatling gun and cutting through their numbers. But for every one killed, more came to take its place.

And then, suddenly, it was over. The last of the horde of Zerg was lying dead. Their bodies were strewn about the bridges, and many of them were lying on the front lines. The bunkers were trashed, the marines inside of them dead. The only sound was from the injured marines, crying out as acid chewed through their armor, or deadly spines ripped at their skin. Medics ran about, looking at anyone who still had a chance.

Jim looked up to the sky. The night was slowly retreating, and the sun was slowly emerging. But the sky still seemed wrong, filled with distant smoke and a purple haze, and the shapes of distant figures falling from the sky. Suddenly the Adjunct patched a transmission through to him.

"Commander. This is Matt Horner. Just hold on, cavalry's on its way," the transmission said. Jim just about smiled, but then the smile froze as he saw something on the horizon. A gigantic flock of mutalisks was flying their way, and in their shadow Jim saw an even larger swarm of Zerg.

"Take your time Matt… No rush!" Jim sent back, desperation pitching his voice slightly higher. The marines looked around, terrified at the massacre that was about to reach them.

"Alright, pull back! Back to higher ground!" Jim shouted. Immediately the marines pulled back, running up the narrow ramp to the higher ground as fast as they could. Jim and Tychus stayed to the rear, picking off the first few zerglings that were running ahead of the rest. At the top of the ramp were two more bunkers, allowing only a narrow walkway between them. Marines manned the bunker, and the rest of them took positions along the sides. After they were all up, Jim and Tychus went to the high ground as well.

The civilians came out, and screamed and clutched their loved ones as the mutalisks came near. The zerglings came over the bridge, smashing through the make-shift barricades and the remains of the bunkers. The hydralisks slithered alongside them, and the roaches waddled in the center. The marines opened fire, and the hydralisks and roaches returned fire. The zerglings barreled their way up the ramp, only to be mowed down by the waves of gauss rifle shots. But it was going to be temporary. Ammo was running low; most of it had been left behind. The glaive worms rained from above, the only missile turret on the high ground being destroyed by a volley of glaive worms. Marines screamed as spikes embedded in them, and glaive worms exploded against their armor. One marine even threw his weapon down and ran towards the edge of the cliff, preferring to die that way than at the teeth of the Zerg.

Jim fired his gauss rifle at every Zerg that was in his sight, but there seemed to be an unlimited number, swarming. He looked up as he heard a noise, and then saw salvation.

The Hyperion was a gigantic behemoth-class battlecruiser. It was about the size of a decent Mar Sara town. Streams of laser fire suddenly burst out of its lower turrets, raining fiery death on the swarms below. The zerglings burned up in a crisp under the intense laser fire; even the heavily-armored roach burned. The mutalisks above were being shot down by the anti-air batteries; their glaive worms exploding nearly harmlessly against the outside hull.

There was a sudden whooshing noise, and a giant burst on concentrated energy flew into the horde below. The shot was molten red and difficult to look at, and as it went through the air it sucked the oxygen to it, making it difficult to breathe for a moment as it passed by. When it hit the ground, there was an earth-shattering crash, chunks of earth flying all over. The Zerg directly in its path were instantly vaporized, and the ones merely on the outskirts were blown apart.

Jim received a transmission from the ship. "Calvary has arrived. Anyone still alive down there?" it said, obviously Matt Horner's voice.

"Good to see you, Matt. Welcome to the party," Jim said, breaking out in a smile.

The marines yelled in joy and elation as the Hyperion drifted lower to the ground. It was too large to land directly onto the platform, but it released several drop ships which came to the surface. The Zerg were still coming despite the Hyperion's presence, however. The anti-air turrets fired at the Mutalisks, killing them. Several marines, including Jim, Tychus, and Drake, stayed back to take shots at any Zerg that escaped the barrage from the Hyperion. The civilians were crowded into the dropships, with no allowances made for personal space.

Jim turned and looked at the artifact they had collected. He was tempted to leave it behind, but a feeling deep in his gut told him that would be a bad idea. He ordered it loaded up as well. After everything was ready, Jim backed up into the last remaining dropship, still firing at the oncoming zerglings. The moment they were inside, the hatch closed and it took off, leaving the zerglings helplessly behind.

"So… how do you like the Zerg, Tychus?" Jim asked.

"Why, I can't believe you were having all this kinds of fun while I was away. Makes a man jealous, old buddy," Tychus replied, lighting up a cigar.

"Well, we're not quite out of the woods yet," Jim said. After a few minutes, the dropships were docked back into the Hyperion. Jim got out of his armor. It wouldn't do him any good if the ship went down. Tychus, however, still stayed within the confines of his battle armor.

Jim marched out of the dropship and down the hallways of the Hyperion. Crew members were running all over the place, but he didn't pay any heed to them. The ship rocked violently, probably from mutalisks shooting the hull, but Jim ignored that too. Tychus looked around the ship with envious eyes. Although it was a battle ship, it still seemed nicely decorated, and was obviously well-armed.

"Damn Jimmy. You been holdin' out on me," he said. Jim also ignored that.

The doors to the bridge opened up before Jim and Tychus, and Jim nodded at Matt Horner, who was near the front of the bridge. Matt was about the height of Jim with very neatly cut hair and calm, brown eyes. He seemed about the opposite of Jim. Whereas Jim was a rouge with a slightly disheveled look, Matt was the clear picture of a man who did things by-the-book.

"Cutting it a little close there, Matt," Jim said.

"Never left you hanging before, sir," Matt retorted.

"Fair enough," Jim said, lighting up a cigar, "Just get us the hell out of here."

Matt smiled, and then turned to his crew. "All batteries, concentrate to forward firepower," he said. A smart move. They were about to enter warp drive, and any mutalisks in their way could leave huge dents, even holes in the ship's hull. Hopefully the forward fire would drive the mutalisks away from the front.

"Spin up drives two and six," Matt called to his crew, "All hands brace for warp on my mark." There was a slight pause, and Matt looked at his watch. "Mark!" he called out.

Tychus reached out and grabbed a nearby handhold, as did Raynor. He hated entering warp, although it was necessary to traverse the vast distances in space. For a moment, everything was still, and then there was a sensation like a sudden lurch forward. Everything felt like it was spinning around, yet moving forward and stretching at the same time. G-force smashed into Raynor, nearly throwing him backwards. A giant thumping noise filled their ears, feeling like it was pounding on the inside of his skull.

In less than a second, however, it was over. The shaking stopped, and Raynor could tell by the sudden humming of the gradational field generators that they were now in space. He let out a heavy sigh of relief. He let go of his handhold and came up behind Matt. "What the hell happened?" he asked, "we ain't seen the Zerg in years. Why attack Mar Sara now?"

Matt gave him a silent look, and then tapped on a viewscreen on a console nearby. "It's not just Mar Sara…" he said. As the screen flickered to life, Jim's eyes widened at the horror. Various news reports were flooding in from everywhere.

"….Zerg swarm unleashed a full-scale attack…" a newscaster said.

"Devastation as trillions of Zerg…."

"…casualties in the billions…"

The screen switched to a woman newscaster, as fire burned in the background. The fire suddenly expanded, then exploded, ending the screen in static.

"Sweet mother of mercy," Tychus whispered, coming up behind them.

Chaos. Devastation. Jim recognized his old friend Mike Liberty giving a report. His eyes glazed over, barely able to accept the horror of it all. Suddenly one voice brought him out of his trance.

"New, exclusive video footage confirms. The Queen of Blades is in fact leading the swarm." On the screen it showed a dark silhouette, vaguely the shape of a human woman, but with giant misshaped wings, walking across a desecrated landscape. The form turned her head and looked at the screen. Her eyes were two pits of burning fire, seeming to look past the screen, and straight into Jim's eyes.

Jim sat down heavily, putting his head in his hands. The ghosts of his past. They were returning.

The screen burst into static, and Matt looked over at Jim. "We always knew she'd be back… but what's she after?" he wondered aloud.

Jim might have laughed, if the circumstances were different. But he knew better. He stared at the ground for a long moment, and then, without looking up, replied, "She's come to finish the job."


End file.
